No matter who you are, and no matter what your age, your body requires 13 different vitamins for overall health and to promote proper functioning. These include vitamins A, B (which include the vitamins thiamine, riboflavin, niacin, pantothenic acid, biotin, B-6, B-12 and folate) C, D and K.  

All these vitamins have specific jobs — and if you don’t get enough of them, you could develop issues. For example, not enough B-12 could make you anemic. Not enough vitamin E could lead to issues with your nervous system. And shorting yourself of vitamin D could cause bone abnormalities. Is a vitamin supplement the way to avoid these problems? 

The supplement aisle at most supermarkets is bursting at the seams with an enormous variety of single vitamins and multivitamins, from A to Z. Capsules. Powders. Gummies. Tablets. Some for men, some for women. Some for pregnant women, some for children and some that include minerals as well.  

Frankly, it’s overwhelming. 

Do you need to purchase a cupboard full of vitamins? Or will a single multivitamin do the trick? How can you be sure your body is getting all the vitamins it needs in the first place?  

Take a deep breath and put your mind at ease. According to the National Institutes of Health, if you eat a well-balanced diet and get enough exposure to sunlight, you should be getting all the vitamins your body needs. (Your body also produces vitamins D and K on its own.)  

Not sure if your diet would make the cut? According to the Centers for Disease Prevention and Control (CDC), a healthy diet should: 

• Focus on fresh fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and fat-free or low-fat milk and milk products 

• Include lean meat, poultry, fish, beans, eggs, and nuts 

• Low in saturated fats, trans fats, cholesterol, salt and added sugars 

If your diet seems like it’s falling short, here’s a tip. “Take the money you could be spending on supplements and purchase more fresh fruits and vegetables instead,” said Sarah Brauning, a registered and licensed dietitian with Genesis Diabetes & Nutrition Education. “You’ll still get the vitamins you need, and you’ll get to enjoy the taste as well.”   

Finally, consider your overall wellness. For example, do you have an existing health issue, such as anemia? Are you overweight or obese, which might mean you don’t get the proper nutrition from your diet? Then you might benefit from a vitamin supplement. If that’s the case, save time and spend your money wisely by first asking your doctor about the type of vitamin supplement that might be right for you. 

The supplement aisle at most supermarkets is bursting at the seams with an enormous variety of single vitamins and multivitamins, from A to Z. Capsules. Powders. Gummies. Tablets. Frankly, it’s overwhelming. 

You know how important nutrition is, especially to teenagers, and even more so for teenage athletes. So, plan and prepare meals with
various healthy foods to eat on the go and when they get home.

Full disclosure, we are among the many who enjoy caffeine. It brightens our day and enables us to like mornings. Despite our love of energy in a cup, we will present an unbiased representation of the facts. We just hope we don’t regret writing this piece because we learn we should give up caffeine.  

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Full disclosure, we are among the many who enjoy caffeine. It brightens our day and makes us like people more, especially early in the morning. Despite our love of energy in a cup, we will present an unbiased representation of the facts.

Do you ever feel stressed because there are too many things to do and not enough time to do them? Do you sometimes worry you’ll forget something important? Do you ever notice physical symptoms of stress, like a rapidly beating heart? 
 
Okay. Take a deep breath. We can deal with this. 

First, know this: it’s normal to feel these ways once in a while. But if stress starts dominating your every waking hour—or is starting to keep you up at night—you need to do something about it. 

The good news is, you can start reducing your stress right now by goal setting.  

Do the words “goal setting” sound daunting? Don’t worry. Goal setting doesn’t have to involve reassessing your entire life or take hours of planning to be helpful. 

In fact, making lists with your daily goals is one powerful, yet incredibly simple way of reducing stress. When you write your daily goals down in the morning, several positive things happen automatically—before you’ve even done anything on the list: 

1. It takes the pressure off: you no longer need to worry you’ll forget something. 

2. It allows you to see the “big picture,” so you can better decide which items you should tackle first. 

3. It helps give structure to your day and more often than not helps you realize things aren’t as bad as they seemed. 

You don’t need to get goal setting apps or software, unless, of course, you want to—in fact, stepping offline and jotting things down by hand, on a small notepad can often be stress-reducing in itself. 

Then, when it comes time to take care of your tasks, stay realistic about the time it may take to complete them. Cut yourself some slack if you don’t get everything done. Remember, tomorrow is another day. 

Now, a final word to the wise: if you don’t deal with the stress you are experiencing, it could lead not only to more serious mental health challenges, but physical problems like heart disease, obesity and/or high blood pressure. 

If you’re looking for additional ideas to maintain your positive mental health, the U.S. Department of Health & Human Services recommends the following: 

• Getting professional help if you need it 

• Connecting with others 

• Staying positive 

• Getting physically active 

• Helping others 

• Getting enough sleep 

• Developing coping skills 

Source: https://www.mentalhealth.gov/basics/what-is-mental-health 

Do you ever feel stressed because there are too many things to do and not enough time to do them? Okay. Take a deep breath. We can deal with this.

While you can’t protect your young athlete from every injury, you can try to minimize the risk with a few basic steps.

You spend an hour in a spin class one day and an hour in yoga class the next. You sweat in one and not the other, so does that mean one’s a better workout? If you run three miles on a hot July evening and sweat profusely, and run the exact three-mile route in January and sweat half as much, was it less of a workout?  

Everyone has a different sweating pattern. Gender, age, fitness level and environment contribute to how much you sweat. Women seem to sweat less and start to sweat at higher temperatures than men. People tend to sweat less as they grow old and cannot take the heat as well as younger people. Our bodies, regardless of age or gender, produce heat and the more your muscles contract, the more heat is produced. If our body didn’t have ways of keeping you cool, we would overheat. 

“When you exercise, focus on how you feel, and stay hydrated. Sweating is the body’s way to cool off, not an indicator of the number of calories burned,” said Stephen Ulrich, M.D., family practice, Perry County Family Practice and Genesis HealthCare System medical director of WellnessWins. “It’s not uncommon for people with larger body masses to sweat more.” 

Heat radiates out of the skin if the air around you is cooler than your body. Think January run. Exercise produces heat, heat produces calorie expenditure, and you produce the same amount of heat whether exercising in a cold environment or a hot one. Just because you don’t sweat as much in a colder environment does not mean your exercise session was less productive. 

There are two key factors that determine an effective calorie burn: duration and intensity. When you're ready to do more, you can build on your routine by adding new physical activities. Increase the distance, time, or difficulty of your favorite activity or do your activities more often. For example, if you walk regularly for exercise, gradually increase the duration of your walk over several days to weeks by walking longer distances. You can increase the intensity by walking more briskly or up hills. 

Don’t stress about your sweat, just keep moving. Regular exercise, of any kind, with a balanced diet is a healthy way to achieve and maintain a healthy body. Talk to your health care provider before you begin an exercise routine.  

Source: Healthguidance.org, American Heart Association 

You spend an hour in a spin class one day and an hour in yoga class the next. You sweat in one and not the other, so does that mean one’s a better workout?

It can if you are rubbing the adorable head of your best friend who happens to be your dog. Numerous studies indicate caring for a dog can lead to a longer, healthier life. To make it easier for you, we gathered the information below. 

Knowing a wagging tail will greet you at home, can create feelings of joy, reduce stress and lower blood pressure. The health benefits don’t stop there. People who own dogs are 34% more likely to walk for the recommended amount of 150 minutes each week. Dog owners are also 31% less likely to die from a heart attack or stroke than people who do not own a dog.  

Still questioning if dogs can improve your health? For hundreds of years, animals including dogs have been used to help the sick and injured recover. These days, therapy dogs are a common sight and often visit hospitals bringing smiles to patients. Dogs are a companion that can make you feel happier, better and live longer.  

The real question is not whether you should get a dog, but what will you name it?  

For more health tips, visit the Health and Wellness section of Genesis.org and talk to your doctor. 

Numerous studies indicate caring for a dog can lead to a longer, healthier life.